Haaretz: Expected Restoration of Turkey Ties Paves Way for Natural Gas Deal

Expectations that Turkey and Israel will restore normal relations after a five-year rift have raised hopes of speedy progress in talks to import Israeli natural gas, potentially a multibillion dollar project.

Israel’s ties with Turkey soured in 2010 when Israeli commandoes killed 10 Turkish activists when storming the Mavi Marmara, a ship in a convoy seeking to break a naval blockade of Gaza.

Turkey, largely dependent on imports for its energy needs, has ramped up efforts to find new sources of natural gas due to worsening tensions with Russia, after Turkish forces shot down a Russian jet near the Turkish border last month. MORE